29 August 2010

tofu cutie's charity mittens

finally, i have a pattern to post! this mitten pattern is worked flat with seams on the thumb and side. the stitch pattern and increases/decreases are modeled off of bev's 2-needle mittens knitting pattern, which i ADORE. i wanted a crochet pattern which would be more seamless to make. these work up quickly- i made a pair in a couple of hours. the pattern is written to be adjustable, so you can fiddle with it on your own. try increasing yarn and hook sizes to make a bigger mitten if you don't want to add rows. for this pattern, i used Red Heart Super Saver in "Aruba sea" and a size G hook.

A FEW NOTESthis pattern is intended for your own personal use and for use for charity. please do not sell this pattern or items made from it (exceptions would be use to make mittens for a charity crafts fair or event where the money will be donated to charity.)

for an even-looking hand, crochet in the "right side" loop of each row.

you may notice that as you increase for the thumb stitches the piece gets a little crowded and unwieldy. that's all right- this is how it should be, and will make for a good thumb.

PATTERNCuffrow 1: ch 9. sc in 2nd ch from hook and each sc across- 8 sc.row 2: ch 1, turn. sc in back loop of each sc across- 8 sc.repeat row 2 until there are 24 rows. if you want a wider cuff, add a few additional rows.

Handturn the work so you will be crocheting along the long edge of the cuff and sl st across to form base sts of hand. i got 26 stitches. you should have the equivalent or near-equivalent of how many rows you did. make sure the stitch count you get is an even number. if it is not, just add another sl st on the end or in the middle somewhere.

row 1: ch 1, turn. sc in same st. sc in each st across, 2 sc in last st.row 2: ch 1, turn. this is a little tricky. take the number of sts in your row and subtract 2. then, divide the resulting number in half. this will get you the number of stitches that you will make on each side of the thumb. so, since i have 28 sts in this row, i subtract 2 (26) and divide by 2 (13). therefore, there will be 13 sts on each side of the thumb sts. for 30 sts it would be 14 sts, for 32 it would be 15 sts, etc.

once you have the number figured out, continue as follows (the (#) represents the number you got):

sc in each of next (#) sts. (for me, i would sc in each of the next 13 sts.) 2 sc in each of next 2 sts. sc in each of (#) remaining sts. (for me, i would sc in each of the remaining 13 sts.)

row 3: ch 1, turn. sc in each of next (#) sts. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in each of next (#) sts. see where i'm going with this?

row 4: ch 1, turn. sc in each of next (#) sts. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in each of next (#) sts.

row 5: ch 1, turn. sc in each of next (#) sts. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 6 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in each of next (#) sts.

row 6: ch 1, turn. sc in each of next (#) sts. 2 sc in next st, 1 sc in next 8 sts, 2 sc in next st, sc in each of next (number) sts.

note: 12 sts for the thumb is USUALLY enough. if you need a bigger thumb, i suggest continuing this pattern until there are 12 sts between each "2 sc". don't make it bigger than half the hand width, though, or you'll end up with an oven mitt!

Thumbnext row: ch 1, turn. sc in next (#) sts. sc in next 12 sts (more if you decide to make thumb wider- the number of stitches will be 4 + however many you had between each "2 sc". so if you did 2 sc, 12 sc, 2 sc, it would be 16 sc total, and you would sc in next 16 sts.)

ch 1, turn. sc in each of next 11 sc (12 thumb sts, or however many you have).

repeat last row 4 more times until there are 6 rows. if you want a longer thumb, add more rows.

next row: ch 1, turn. sc 2 tog across. you may have 1 extra st; just sc in it and turn.

TWO WAYS OF SEWING THUMB

cut yarn, thread through remaining sts, pull tight. leave long strand of yarn for sewing up thumb later. reattach yarn at NEXT st on base row and sc in each st across (13 sts or whatever # you have.)

insert needle from side of row opposite yarn and weave through remaining sts in row. yo with crochet hook and pull all sts through so you have a loop on hook and all sts are pulled tight. fold mitten in half and crochet 2 sides of thumb together (i prefer sl st). when you reach the base, continue with a sc in each st across (13 sts or whatever # you have.)

the first is a little more precise when it comes to stitching the thumb, but some find it to be messy to reattach the yarn. the second lets you continue uninterrupted, but can make the thumb a little smaller.

Hand (continued)next row: ch 1, turn. Sc across each of next (# x 2) sts. since i had 13 sts on each side of the thumb, i crocheted across each of the next 26 sts.

repeat last row until there are 10 rows.

next row: ch 1, turn. * sc2tog across next 2 sts. sc in next 2 sts. repeat from * to end, sc in last st, turn.

next row: ch 1, turn. * sc2tog across next 2 sts. sc in next st. repeat from * to end, sc in last st, turn.

next row: sc2tog across, sc in last st, turn.

gather and sew up the edge of the mitten using one of the 2 ways provided above, and you're done!

if you find any errors in this pattern or have questions, please leave a comment and i'll get back to you!